Shadow Puppets
by Snapegirlkmf
Summary: Severus plays an innocent game of shadow puppets with his niece, Marietta.  But what happens when the game summons up something sinister and scary? An AU fic.


Shadow Puppets

a Sev and Marietta story

**A/N- I do not own Harry Potter or associated characters, I'm only borrowing them.**

"Uncle Sev! Can we play shadow puppets _now_?"

Severus Snape, Potions Master, glanced up from the stack of papers he was grading, setting his quill down on his desk. "In a minute, minx," he answered his five-year-old niece's query. Marietta was practically vibrating in place, her strawberry-blond curls flying about her face, her huge blue eyes shining eagerly. "Let me finish grading these homework assignments first, all right?"

Marietta sighed impatiently. "But Uncle Sev, you've been doing that for _hours_. Why can't you just give them all A's?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Because then I'd be a lazy good-for-nothing professor, Marietta. I never give students grades they haven't earned, it's not proper policy. Now, why don't you play with Sevvy while I finish up?"

She shot him an aggrieved look, but she knew nothing would be gained by whining, Severus didn't allow himself to be influenced by spoiled behavior, and so she turned to her black stuffed dog, Sevvy, and resigned herself to another session of Sevvy Gets Lost in the Forbidden Forest and Marietta Rescues Him. She was staying with her uncle for three days including Halloween, since her parents were away at a conference somewhere in Texas and she'd begged them to send her to Hogwarts to spend Halloween with her favorite uncle instead of her grandparents.

Snape finished marking the essay he was working on eventually, then decided to take a break and play with his little niece as she's requested before the students essays drove him insane with frustration. _Merlin help me, but does ANYONE pay attention to my instructions in class?_ He wondered irritably. _I'll bet Marietta could write a better essay on the effects of phoenix tears than these first-years, and she's only five!_ There were times when he felt as if he were talking to himself or a wall for all the intelligent responses he got to his assignments.

He set his green quill down atop the stack of papers, and rose from his chair, stretching cramped muscles before swooping down on the little girl and picking her up. She shrieked in glee and threw her small arms about his neck, laughing. "Now can we play shadow puppets?"

"Yes, minx. Come on, we'll play in the bedroom," her uncle agreed, carrying the child into his bedroom, which he shared with her as long as she stayed at Hogwarts. Marietta had her own child-sized bed across the room from his, with a small nightstand upon which always burned a single enchanted lamp, for Marietta was afraid of the dark.

Yet his contrary niece loved to make him play shadow puppets, it was her new favorite activity, and he'd promised her a game before bedtime that evening, in place of her usual bedtime story.

He settled upon his bed, Marietta on his lap, and snapped his fingers. All the lamps went out except the small one, which he caused to shine upon the opposite wall. "Okay, what shall I make for you tonight, minx?"

"Umm . . .a dragon!"

Snape obligingly wiggled his fingers, making them into a dragon with wings flapping, whose shadow portrait danced upon the wall. "Rrowrr!" he growled, making the child squeal in phantom fear.

"Again, Uncle Sev! Make another one!" Marietta clapped her hands.

This time he made a shadow bunny, hopping along the wall. Soon that morphed into a horse rearing, and then a snake chasing its tail, a dog barking, and a cat stalking. The cat became a butterfly, the butterfly, an eagle. The Potion Master's long delicate fingers were eminently suited to this type of play, with a few gestures he could make a shadowy animal appear out of thin air to cavort upon the wall.

The little girl was enthralled, clapping her hands and laughing in sheer delight. Her laughter was the sweetest music to the professor's ears, for he adored the child the way he would have his own daughter, and he liked nothing better than making her smile.

But after fifteen minutes, Severus was running out of animals to make and Marietta was yawning and rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Time for you to go to bed, minx," he said, and carried her over to her bed and tucked her in with Sevvy. "We'll play some more tomorrow, after my exams are graded. Good night, Marietta."

"Night, Uncle Sev. Sweet dreams," she murmured, and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

He left her sleeping soundly and returned to his sitting room to finish grading his essays. After a half an hour he also went to bed, for he still had his midnight rounds to make with Filch that night. He awoke silently precisely at midnight and after checking on Marietta, exited his quarters to begin his nightly prowling of Hogwarts corridors, searching for any wayward students breaking curfew.

Back in the bedroom, a single lamp burned to illuminate the darkness, falling gently upon Marietta's innocent face. She slept deeply, unaware of the stirring in the shadows across the room, of the unnamed spirit that had slipped in past the wards, searching for just such an innocent child to feed upon.

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped a good ten degrees, and the shadow thing gathered itself and morphed into a large creature with fearsome claws, gigantic fangs, and terrible burning eyes, eyes that blazed with eternal hate and hunger. It drifted towards the sleeping child, its mouth gaping wide, hissing in a chilling singsong refrain.

"_In the shadows I creep, watching little children sleep . . ._

_Stalking in the dead of night,_

_Blood of innocents to feed my appetite."_

The freezing cold awakened Marietta from her peaceful slumber, and she shivered, clutching the green blanket and Sevvy to her. "Huh? Why's it so cold?" she muttered, squinting in the dim light of the lamp.

Something laughed softly and her eyes were drawn to the large shadow upon the wall. It loomed over her, all blackness and size, and she found herself paralyzed with fear, chills coursing down her spine, her tongue frozen to the roof of her mouth.

"_Blood and souls,_

_Blood and souls,_

_That's what I desire,"_ chanted the evil spirit, licking its fangs greedily.

Marietta gasped, whimpering, but unable to call out. The shadow inched closer, claws outstretched.

"_Sweet, sweet, sweet . . .what a treat . . ."_

Marietta felt a scream trying to claw its way out of her throat.

"_Hush, child, hush,"_ crooned the monster, shaking a finger at her. "_Not a sound! The Creeper's here with claws so sharp, come to slay and steal your soul away!_"

The shadowy thing lunged, and Marietta found her voice, and screamed loud enough to wake the dead.

"UNCLE SEV! HELP! A MONSTER'S TRYING TO EAT ME! UNCLE SEV!"

Snape had been on his way back to his quarters when Marietta's terrified howl rang out.

He sprinted down the corridor, wand drawn, fear and worry making his heart pound crazily. He burst into his quarters, ready to do battle with some prankster student, his face a mask of outrage. But there was no one there.

"Marietta? What's wrong, child?"

The child was bawling hysterically, and he bolted into the bedroom, all the hairs on his neck standing up. "Lumos!" he cried, and the room was lit up bright as day.

But there was no intruder in the room, no snickering student hiding under the bed or in the closet. Marietta was cowering against the wall, tears streaming down her face, Sevvy squished against her, shivering in utter terror.

"Uncle Sev, there w-was a m-monster!" she wailed. "It t-tried to eat m-me!"

Immediately, the Potions Master was by her side, gathering her into his lap and stroking her hair soothingly. "Hush, little one. You just had a nightmare, that's all. You're okay, minx, there's no such thing as monsters."

She continued to sob against his shoulder for a few minutes and he held her tightly, rocking her and whispering reassurances in her ear until she calmed down. At last she stopped crying and sat up and looked at him.

"There was too a monster!" she insisted. "It was right there," she pointed to the far wall. "It had fangs and teeth and it was all black and scary and it said it was gonna drink my blood and steal my soul! It was _real_!"

Severus sighed. "Marietta, there's no such thing, it was just a dream. Sometimes when you wake up, the shadows play tricks on your eyes. Monsters can't get into Hogwarts, baby."

"But I saw it! I did!"

He bit his lip, for he was tired and in no mood to argue with her. "Very well. You stay here and watch me while I search around for this monster or whatever."

"'Kay," she sniffled, and hugged her dog while he made a thorough search of the room, throwing back the bed hangings, peering under the beds, opening the closet and looking behind the curtains. He even searched the adjoining bathroom.

"See? No monsters anywhere," he announced. "It was only a dream, child."

Marietta sniffled, she wanted so much to believe him, but . . .she was sure what she had seen had been real, not a figment of her imagination. Still, whatever It was had been scared away and she was exhausted from screaming. She crawled into Snape's lap and allowed him to rock her back to sleep, knowing that no child-eating monster would get her while her uncle was there, watching over her.

The next night, Snape tried to put Marietta to bed without playing shadow puppets, reasoning that was what had brought on her nightmare in the first place. "Let's just have a nice bedtime story, okay?"

"But Uncle Sev, I _love_ shadow puppets. Please make some more, _please_? I'll go to bed right away and sleep all night, I promise." She gave him her most winsome stare, the one that never failed to melt his resolve utterly.

He sighed reluctantly, knowing his students would be spellbound with shock if they could see their stern inflexible teacher now, reduced to a quivering ball of jelly by a little girl's huge eyes and pleading statements. _Good God Snape, you're becoming a pushover. What's the matter with you? Just tell her no and that's the end of it._ But he couldn't bear to disappoint her, she asked for so very little from him, and so he agreed to another game of shadow puppets.

This time he conjured playful deer and flowers and other funny things, staying away from the griffins and dragons he'd made the previous night. Fawns, sunflowers, and smiley faces would never give the child nightmares. He just thanked God that no one could see him, playing silly games with his five-year-old niece, he'd never live it down and his reputation as a cold-hearted fiend would be ruined.

"All right. Time for bed," he announced, after making the deer and the rabbit play leap frog all over the wall.

Marietta didn't protest much, only asking him to stay with her until she fell asleep.

He did, and remained awake until midnight, keeping silent vigil beside her bed.

He would have forgone his nightly rounds, but Filch came and knocked upon the door and his pride wouldn't allow him to admit that he couldn't do his duty because his niece might have a nightmare, and so he left, slipping from the room like a shadow himself.

But he made sure the lamp at her bedside was spelled for maximum brightness, so the shadows were confined to the corners.

No sooner had the professor left the room, then the Creeper emerged from its hiding place, gnashing its teeth at the unexpected brightness. But it was an old spirit and it knew how to slip around the edges of things, moving sinuously from one patch of shadow to another, tangling itself inside the bed hangings.

"_Child, do you hear me?"_ it hissed, and blew its freezing mist outwards, making the lamp flicker and dim.

Shadows surrounded Marietta's bed, crowding up about the foot, and the Creeper hissed in delight and flowed into them, red eyes glittering.

It began to hum, singing the same song it had the previous night.

"_In the shadows I creep , watching little children sleep,_

_Stalking in the dead of night,_

_Blood of innocents to feed my appetite!_

_Blood and souls!_

_Blood and souls!"_

Marietta woke up at the second hissing refrain, fear stealing over her in an inexorable wave, turning her limbs to water, making her tremble so badly she nearly fell out of bed.

"G-go away!" she whimpered, tears prickling her eyes. "You're not real. Uncle Sev says so!"

The Creeper chuckled, baring its teeth in a mocking parody of a smile. "_Am I not? I have been here for ages and will always be here. I will always come where there is innocence and laughter and a child's smile. Sweet, sweet, sweet, what a treat . . .blood and souls to feed my hunger! Out of the shadows I come, ready or not!"_

This time the Creeper's claws just brushed Marietta's cheek before she swatted at it, screaming in one long bloodcurdling howl, "Get awaay from meee! UNCLE SEV!"

The Creeper drank in her despair like fine wine, gulping it down eagerly, but before it could grasp the child in its life-draining claws, the room was lit by a softly-spoken word and the shadows vanished, leaving the spirit bereft of a hiding place.

Cursing furiously, it fled.

Once again Snape soothed and comforted poor Marietta, who finally fell asleep in his arms and ended up snuggling next to him in his four poster bed, her little hand clutching his for dear life. _That does it!_ He vowed. _No more shadow puppets. These nightmares have to stop._ He had never seen his intrepid niece reduced to such hysterics and it frightened him.

The next night was Halloween, and he had agreed to take Marietta around Hogsmeade trick-or-treating. Marietta was dressed as a fairy princess, with a soft pink skirt and silky gossamer wings, her hair done up in bunches of ringlets on her head by Minerva McGonagall. Even Sevvy sported a costume, he was a fairy dog, complete with a jeweled collar and sparkly wings.

Snape flatly refused to wear any kind of costume, it was bad enough he was humbling himself taking the little imp trick-or-treating. At first he thought Marietta was going to insist he wear something besides his wizards robes, but she just tilted her head and said slyly, "You don't need to dress up, Uncle Sev. You're scary just the way you are."

He arched an eyebrow at her bold statement. "Oh I am, am I? Just for that, child, I get half your Chocolate Frogs," he said, pretending to scowl ferociously at her.

"No fair!" she pouted.

"Why not? You just insulted me, young lady."

"I take it back," she said hastily, envisioning all her candy disappearing down her uncle's throat.

"Only kidding, minx," he smirked. "You can have your Chocolate Frogs, I don't need them."

"I can share," she offered generously. Then she skipped out of his quarters and down the corridor. "C'mon! Before all the good candy is gone!"

Hiding a smile, Snape followed.

On her way to the entrance hall, Marietta passed the Weasley twins, who remained with their mouths agape at the sight of their potions professor taking a child trick-or-treating, of all things.

"Bloody hell, Fred!" muttered George. "I don't believe it! Snape is taking a kid _trick-or-treating_!"

"Blimey, George! Did he swallow a Personality Altering Draft or what?" Fred gasped, his eyes wide. "The old dungeon bat is actually leaving the castle for the first time in a century or something!"

The two burst into snickers.

Marietta spun around, her eyes flashing. Unknown to the twins, she'd caught Fred's unflattering nickname for her uncle and was not amused. "Uncle Sev's not an old bat!" she cried. "Don't you make fun of him, nasty boy!" Then she pointed her wand at him and shouted, "Prismari!"

Colored lights shot out of her wand, rather like fireworks, though without the noise, startling Fred so much he jumped about a foot. "Blazes, George! What was _that_!"

George was laughing his head off. "Uh, Fred, you've just been hexed by a little _girl_ with a Prismari-Lumos wand!"

Marietta glowered at them before turning and stomping to the door of the castle, her wand clutched in her fist, Sevvy trailing along in her wake. Her wand was a toy, it could only cast two spells, and nothing more. It had been a Christmas gift to her from her cousin Arista, Snape's daughter. "That'll teach them!" she muttered crossly to Sevvy.

"Marietta," Severus called. "Come along, you can tease the students later," he said, with a sidelong smirk at the twins, who were blushing in embarrassment at being victimized by a mere child.

They watched the two sail out the door and into the night, and Fred looked at George and said, "Too bad she lives in America, because with a few lessons from the masters, she could be one of the best pranksters ever! She's got the touch."

Marietta held her uncle's hand as they walked through the gates and down the path to Hogsmeade. Severus had lit up the tip of his wand so they could see where they were going. The night was cool, the moon soared bright and full overhead.

"Why did you use your wand back there?" he asked.

She scowled, then said, "'Cause one of them redheaded boys called you an old bat. Nobody makes fun of my Uncle Sev!" she declared with all the fierceness of a queen defending her subject from an unjust accusation.

Snape fought to keep from laughing. "I see," his lips twitched and he glanced away from his indignant niece quickly. "You shouldn't mind what the Weasley twins say, child. They've been making fun of teachers here since they started school, it means nothing. Ignore them, Marietta, the way I do."

She considered, then nodded. "Okay. What do they know anyhow?"

"Absolutely nothing," Snape replied with his trademark smirk.

Then he allowed her to lead him down the path towards the twinkling lights of the village, her plastic trick-or-treat cauldron swinging by her side.

Two-and-a-half hours later, the Potions Master carried a weary fairy princess and her cauldron overflowing with candy back to the castle. He wouldn't let the child eat any of the candy until he'd inspected it first for any dangerous substances or spells, although he was reasonably certain none of the Hogsmeade residents would deliberately harm a child. Still, better safe than sorry.

While he inspected the hoard of Fizzing Whizzbees, Chocolate Frogs, Ice Mice, Jelly Slugs and whatever else she'd gotten, Marietta removed her costume and got into pajamas. She'd thoroughly enjoyed her outing with Severus, and had quickly become the hit of the village, since the residents rarely got to spoil a child her age.

She watched him cast incantation after incantation over the candy, until he was satisfied. "There! Now you may have one piece before you go to bed," he said.

She sorted through the pile until she found a Chocolate Frog, her favorite. "Yum!" she said, eating it in two bites. Then she examined the card. "Look! It's Professor Dumbledore!"

"Yes, he's known for his work on the Sorcerer's Stone," Severus told her. He took a Chocolate Frog himself. "It's getting late. Time for all little girls to be in bed."

"I'm not tired!" she pouted, wearing her most mulish expression, though in fact she was after the long evening tramping about the village.

"Oh, I think you are," Snape said softly.

"No, not one little bit," she said, recalling with a sudden flash of terror the Thing that always awaited her in the middle of the night. "I wanna stay up all night."

Snape's eyes narrowed and he gave her one of his famous Snape glares. "No."

"Yes!"

"D'you know what happens to bad little girls who don't go to sleep when they're told?"

"What?" she asked, not fazed by his threatening glower.

"The most dreadful punishment imaginable," he growled. Then he pulled her onto his lap and began to tickle her unmercifully.

Marietta shrieked and wriggled, but Snape held her fast, his long sensitive fingers tickling her in all the most ticklish places until she was gasping for breath, laughing so hard she was in tears.

"Stop, Uncle Sev! Please!"

"You going to behave? Or do you need some more punishment?" he demanded sternly, wriggling his fingers threateningly at her stomach.

"No! No! I'll be good!" she giggled.

"Will you go to bed right now?"

"Yes," she agreed reluctantly.

"That's my girl," he praised, then carried her off to her bed.

But when he went to put her down, she clung to him, whimpering. "Don't leave me alone, Uncle Sev! The monster comes when you go away. It waits until you're gone, then it comes out of the shadows."

"Marietta," he began, slightly exasperated at her stubborn insistence that there was a monster lurking in the shadows. "How many times do I have to tell you, there're no monsters in the castle?"

"Yes, there is! I see it every night, it wants to suck my blood and take my soul. It scratched me last night," she said, pointing to a small scratch down her left cheek.

"You sure you didn't do that in your sleep?"

"No. Please stay here tonight. Please!" she begged, and huge tears sparkled on her lashes.

Snape sighed. "Very well. I'll stay." Filch wouldn't be pleased, but Severus found he didn't much care. Marietta was more important.

"Get under the covers, child," he ordered softly. "Now close your eyes and go to sleep. Don't be afraid. I'm right here," he soothed, stroking her hair from her forehead.

She obeyed, much to his relief. He resigned himself to a long restless night and settled beside her bed, his wand in his lap, ready in a moment's notice should he need it.

Marietta slipped easily into slumber once she knew that her uncle was standing guard. She trusted Severus implicitly. Snape dozed as the hours passed, dousing the little lamp to a mere flicker so he could sleep comfortably.

Then the midnight hour arrived and with it the opening of the way to the spirit realm, for tonight was Halloween, the one night of the year when the barriers between the spirit world and the material one dissolved, allowing those spirits who wished to cross over and cause mayhem as they chose.

Snape dozed lightly, his chin resting on his chest, his breathing deep and even. Across the room, where the shadows were thickest, something stirred and awoke.

The Creeper slunk from the shadows on cat's feet, licking its lips in anticipation of the feast to come. It took no notice of the older wizard asleep next to the girl's bed, it was too intent on devouring its prey. Tonight of all nights it was fully in this world, not just a shadow, and it hungered, oh how it hungered, for the sweet taste of a human child, body and soul!

Once it had been human, long and long ago, when the castle was first founded, and it had been cursed for trying to murder one of Salazar Slytherin's students, bound to wander the shadows for eternity, feeding only on the psychic turmoil of the students it scared to death. It craved innocence, pure and untainted, for such would make it strong, strong enough to free itself from Salazar's binding.

And the child sleeping not five feet away was so innocent and carefree she glowed like a star gone nova to the Creeper's jaded sight. Innocence and dormant magical power such as it had never dreamed. And it was all there for the taking.

It set one clawed foot and then another upon the carpet, humming softly as it drew closer.

"_Blood and souls!"_

Closer and closer it crept, its fangs dripping.

"_What a treat!"_

Marietta tossed in her sleep and the Creeper froze.

"_Hush, child, hush! Not a sound!"_

She stopped moving and the evil thing bounded up to perch upon the foot of the little bed, hissing and trembling as the sweet smell of innocence drifted over it. Claws the size of swords popped out of its paws. _"Ahhh! So young, so full of life! Such a feast!"_

The Creeper shuddered, gathering itself to pounce. One blow and it would be over.

Marietta stirred again, some sixth sense warning her of danger.

She opened her eyes.

And saw her worse nightmare hovering over her.

She screamed.

The Creeper snarled, "Here I am, come to slay you, child, and steal your soul away!" Then it lunged at her, claws outstretched.

"_Magnus illuminus!_"

Suddenly the Creeper was blinded, as if from a thousand suns. It wailed in agony, falling sideways, trying to shield its sensitive eyes from the awful light. It hit the floor with a thump, right in front of Snape's boots.

Severus was on his feet in a flash, wand pointed at the squirming black thing, that resembled a cross between a monkey and a cat gone horribly wrong. He had no idea what it was, nor did he care. His only priority was protecting Marietta. He could feel the evil of the thing, it fairly pulsed with darkness, the kind of darkness he'd associated only with Voldemort.

Before it could recover from his Sunburst spell, he cried another more potent charm, one that rendered the Creeper ash in a heartbeat. "_Draco Inferio_!" Dragonfire, the spell was named and it had been taught to him by his late wife, Amelia. A bluish gold jet of fire shot out of his wand, incinerating the wicked shadow spirit.

The Creeper shrieked, one long low howl of dread and pain, before it died.

The room was still once more.

"Marietta! Are you all right?" Severus cried, turning to the child and grabbing her up in a hug that nearly squeezed the breath out of her.

"Yes," she whimpered, clinging to him. "I _told_ you there was something there in the shadows!"

"You did, and I'm very sorry I didn't believe you, minx," he apologized, cradling her to him, shivering at how close he had come to losing her. If he'd been one second slower, or one bit less of a light sleeper . . . "It's okay. Don't cry, Marietta. It's dead and it'll never hurt you or any child ever again," he promised.

Even so, it was a long time before she fell asleep, and this time Snape curled up on his bed with her in his arms, unwilling to let her go. He quickly cast triple strength wards about the room, wards that were proof against any wandering night haunt or evil spirit, wards that he should have cast earlier, but hadn't, he berated himself sternly.

That was one mistake he'd _never_ make again.

Eventually, he found his eyes closing in spite of himself, and he squinted sharply at the corner of the room, where a single solitary shadow lingered.

But it was still, unmoving, he reassured himself, and his eyelids closed. The threat of the Creeper was ended, and now they could both sleep in peace, for the shadows were merely shadows. Or were they?


End file.
